Advancing Inclusion of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Identities in Clinical Education: A Toolkit for Clinical Educators

Whitney Linsenmeyer, PhD, RD, LD

The transgender community is poorly served by our current healthcare system. Findings a national survey of transgender adults in the U.S. revealed that one in three people had a negative experience with their healthcare provider related to their gender—verbal harassment, refusal of treatment, or having to teach the provider about what it means to be transgender. Nearly one in four transgender patients avoided seeing a doctor due to fear of mistreatment.

From my perspective as a faculty member in the health professions, this is a problem that can be readily addressed through education. I can’t fix the insurance issues that transgender patients face, nor can I single-handedly address the anti-transgender legislation advancing across the United States—but I can train my students to provide excellent care for their future transgender patients.

As a faculty member, I made critical decisions about what to include in my teaching (as well as what I’m going to leave out). The decision to include certain aspects in my teaching—the difference between sex and gender, gender diversity, or the sociopolitical environment of transgender health—is a conscious one, and one that often goes against the norm as most medical and allied health students receive no training on transgender health.

The way that I train my students on these topics will ultimately impact the way that they care for their transgender patients. Will they be nervous, uncomfortable, and uninformed? Or will they approach the patient interview with at least baseline knowledge of transgender health and gender-affirming communication? Ultimately, will their transgender patients feel safe, respected, and affirmed?

The decision to bring transgender health into the classroom may feel daunting or even taboo given the current political climate. With this toolkit, Advancing Inclusion of Transgender and Gender Diverse Identities in Clinical Education: A toolkit for Clinical Educators, my colleagues and I had our fellow health professional faculty in mind. Our hope is that any educator in medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, psychiatry, therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, speech, and nutrition and dietetics, etc., could browse this resource and find some helpful takeaways.

Key features include:

A vision for what excellent transgender healthcare can look like
Seven pragmatic strategies for clinical educators to consider
A discussion on working with students who express resistance to learning about transgender health
Additional resources for all health professions, plus those specific to medicine, mental health, athletic training, nutrition and dietetics, speech language pathology, nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy

One of the best parts about this toolkit is that my colleagues from the Transgender Health Collaborative @ SLU authored the content alongside educators and activists from the transgender community. As a cisgender woman, this approach is essential to ensure that the content is authentic, non-stigmatizing, and centers transgender perspectives. Our authorship includes transgender and cisgender women, transgender men, and non-binary authors of various races and ethnicities; we recognize some perspectives were not included in our authorship, included those of certain racial and ethnic groups (i.e. American Indian or Alaska Native, where transgender or two-spirit individuals hold distinct cultural significance).

Also—there are pictures! Rather, there are stunning illustrations from designer Colleen Clark, a queer artist who specializes in joyful, inclusive imagery. You’ll see her thoughtful artistry communicate the content in a way that words alone cannot, such as the knotted ropes of the transgender flag in the section on working with students who express resistance to learning.

Ultimately, we hope that our fellow faculty members feel empowered, rather than overwhelmed, when introducing these topics into their teaching. We hope readers share our vision—that we can manifest transgender healthcare that is routine, accessible, respectful, and considers the whole person—and that we can start that work in our own classrooms.

Article details
Advancing Inclusion of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Identities in Clinical Education: A Toolkit for Clinical Educators
Whitney Linsenmeyer, Katie Heiden-Rootes, Theresa Drallmeier, Rabia Rahman, Emily Buxbaum, Willow Rosen, Beth Gombos and Ashton Otte
First Published: July 5, 2023
DOI: 10.1177/15248399231183643
Health Promotion Practice

About the Author

Featured

Whitney Linsenmeyer, PhD, RD, LD (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a National Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her research and clinical practice center on gender-affirming nutrition care for the transgender population. She works with the Transgender Health Collaborative at Saint Louis University, a network of researchers and clinicians working with the transgender community throughout SLU and partner organizations. Current research projects include training medical and allied health professional students in transgender health, nutrition screening for eating disorders and food insecurity at gender centers, and an initiative to support physical activity and well-being among transgender youth and their families at a community-based recreation center. She is passionate about positioning food, nutrition, and exercise as a source of empowerment for the transgender community, and centering transgender voices throughout her work.